Review: Strava for iPhone and Android

When I use an iBody thing to measure my time + fitness, I generally have stuck with the Garmin Connect Interface or Runkeeper. I’ve had varying success with them and generally like them both. I live and die by my heart rate monitor and Garmin FR60 Watch. I also have the speed and cadence thingamabobber on the back of my bike too so I can see just how damned fast I’m shredding the trails which is about 1.2 miles per hour.

I decided to give Strava a whirl a while back and my opinion was moot about it so I stuck with Runkeeper. Recently I decided to give it another whirl and see if I could make it stick. I’ve tested it over three rides and have some thoughts.

The Good

I was very impressed with the user interface. It’s well designed (and since I’m a design snob, this is important. Also, since the world revolves around me, this is doubly important). Many times phone apps will be thrown together and they did not think about, nor budget for, a designer.

The reason there is a line backed out four miles long in front of an Apple Store is not because the ravenous nerds must have their iThings3 immediately (okay, well, actually that’s the truth) but it’s because the iPhone and iPad are so elegantly designed verses the other stuff (now, let the flame wars begin about how your phone is oh so much better than mine. It’s not, Apple has told me this therefore your argument is invalid).
One of the things I really liked about the user interface was “press button. start ride.” Now that’s nice. With Runkeeper, you have to jump through 200 hoops just to get going. By then your a.m. ride has turned into a p.m. ride and it’s time for beer. So the ride is dead.

Long live beer.

It’s been my experience that it’s light on memory usage. Runkeeper seems to bog down and crash on really long rides, I did not have this problem with Strava.

The web interface is pretty slick, too. You can follow your bro’s and kudo them while you were stuck at work, workin’ for the man, late until the wee hours while your buddy got to shred the trails all day long. There is also have a nice layout of everything and it’s pretty easy to find stuff (although some things like “why isn’t my Garmin FR60 supported” was non-existant).

Nothing was embellished! I swear! (click image for a larger view)

Where it shines

The thing that is the most attractive and is a great hook for Strava is the leaderboards. Sure, most apps now have some form of an achievement but I was able to see people I know and virtually race against them. Or at least beat their times and run up the ranks. Of course, I don’t have this problem since I’m one of the fastest people in Oak Mountain State Park.

Proof:

No photoshop wizardry was used.

The tie in with Garmin is nice. You can upload your data from your Garmin and it’ll sync that. Neat…wish my Garmin would be supported (I bet I say this a lot in this here blog post).

Not sure why the FR60 is not supported however you can export your data into Strava, but then you cannot merge your iPhone data and Garmin data.

It’s easy to follow friends and share your profile. I have always had a hard time with this on Garmin’s site…I think you can do this with Runkeeper, I just never really bothered with it. Seems as if all the people I know who bike are on Strava – so this works a bit better. Following you friends creates a mini social network because let’s face it…with LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr and the reigning king of them all, Myspace…you need another social network. But hey, this one seems to stick a bit because I actually want to see what my competition friends are up to.

I found the maps to be great for the most part. Strava maps out your ride by plotting it with a red line. Runkeeper also does something similar (plotting a map of where you’ve ridden) however I’ve had terrible performance with long rides and it crashing. Generally with Runkeeper and an endurance ride, my phone turns into mini-oven (which is kinda cool if you like your Clif Bars on the toasty side) and crashes. This did not happen with Strava however my phone did get hot.

Maps of my recent rides

Loop 1: It maps it out all nice and pretty with red lines!

Loop 2: I tried a different route

Loop 3: I did the last one with my eyes closed!

You can also create your own segments. That’s really cool! Here’s a video on how to do it. Or just use mine, which is way better

click image for large picture

Other things I loved about the web interface:

The suffer score: your heart rate info + some fancy secret recipes and they spit out your score for a ride

This is true. (no embellishing this time)

I also enjoyed the exploration on the site, too. This was really awesome

Find your friends and new places to ride

the Bad

The dreaded battery drain. Yep, it’s there – and it’s bad. Just like every other GPS enabled app. I have the iPhone 4s (jealous?) and even though Apple boasts that it has a super-huge battery life…it still drains quickly. So I use two solar chargers to recharge my phone while it’s tracking.

Scott’s gone Solar x2. That’s how Scott rolls.

[edit - sadly, I lost one of my solar chargers today as it bounced out of my bag. sad]

If your phone is not out in visible view of a satellite, there is a canopy of trees or if the Mayans have used secret ancient weaponry to knock out our satellites – your GPS with Strava gets dropped and your mileage off thus you get thrown down the leaderboard and you’re sad. All apps do this, of course. If you do not have a direct view of the sky – you get dropped.

As stated not all Garmin devices are supported. That’s frustrating. I can’t plop down money for a supercharged Garmin device…unless… Saaaaay, Garmin…are you reading this review? Do you know how many ka-bazillion people (maybe more…maybe infinity!) are coming to my site? Would you like your Edge 800 reviewed so people go running to your site to buy it? I’m your corporate shill…sign me up and sell me out. (Remember, the “Scott’s riding the continental divide and loves sponsors” thang).

Here’s a visual:

Actually this is probably more accurate:

in ur face, ya'll!

Wow, man, did I get off track or what. Selling myself on my blog? How dare I? Anyway…yes, a touch frustrating my Garmin FR60 is not supported and I can’t seem to make my Garmin exported data merge with Strava data.

Boo hiss

I think the one thing that frustrated me more than anything was when I’d load up Spotify and play it simultaneously with Strava to listen to some tunes. It crashes every. single. time I play a song from Ke$ha. I mean, come on…what gives!? Ke$ha’s complex multi-talents make her up to be one of the most important singer/songwriters of our times and Strava has the nerve to make sure everything crashes on her delicious hooks and groovy tunes.

I noticed that Styx, REO Speedwagon, The Doors, Wham and Justin Bieber did not crash

not…that I listened to any of these. The jury is still out for Josh Groban. If Strava crashes on the Grobster – I’m done.

Features I’d like to see

A cool feature would be an audio cue of someone nearby. Just think if you were hitting some singletrack and you get an audio message saying “Lance Armstrong is just a few miles ahead of you. Go gettem!“

A powersong at those times when you are bonking? I tried to do this by timing it out where I’d have RATT’s Way Cool Jr only to find out, like Ke$ha, Strava has no musical taste.

Ant+ dongle heart rate interaction. Now that’d rock. If I could just plug in my ant+ dongle and have my heart rate transferred to the phone. I’d be a happy man and my iBody workout would be complete!

Your questions. My answers

It depends on if they become a sponsor and give me money, swag and a jersey – then sure. THEY ARE TERRIFIC!

I’m kidding. Yes, I’d recommend Strava to any of my biker buddies. It’d be neat to have a leaderboard among friends. Plus if I got knocked off my #1 spot, I could work really hard at catching back up. Good thing that’ll never happen.

Does Strava make me sexy like you?

No. sorry. I make me sexy like me

I’m an anon friend of yours, Scott and I’m technologically challenged when it comes to beepers, fax machines and cellular mobile devices and my name rhymes with Macy Gravis. Will I have a hard time with this app?

yes.

lol, no. it’s simple to setup and easy to use.

How many continuous hours did you get with it?

After two hours of use the battery was around half. Then it dropped quickly after the next two hours. The solar chargers kept it going for another 3 hours. At the end of a seven and a half hour ride, it still had a bit of juice with it.

Hi, I’m that anon friend again that rhymes with Macy. I don’t have an iPhone, what are my options?

An Android will do

Macy again, what’s an android…that some robot guy from that tv show Star Wars?

please god say you don’t have a Blackberry

It’s got a rotary dialer.

this never gets old.

I run as well as bike. Can I use it for both?

yes. It’s that way cool jr

While riding, I stop a lot and take breaks. Does it autopause?

take fewer breaks

Okay, how much of this review was real?

I altered a bunch of stuff thanks to being a graphic designer. Honestly, if you’re a cyclist or a runner and you like a solid community check it out. I found this to be better than Runkeeper and Garmin’s social network combined. Also, Macy and Fat Tom Cruise are two close friends of mine. I think the world of them (except that Fat Tom Cruise is big as a world…or an entire planetary system).

Does it crash on music, really?

No. But it will heat up your phone if you run your tunes and Strava at the same time.. iPhones don’t do well in heat, YMMV.

Dude, you’re funny. I lol’d!

Really? That’s awesome and thank you. Do you mind liking it on Facebook or tweeting about it? The exposure is really nice. (see the like button just below this post)

You’re not funny and I didn’t appreciate having to read about you wanting to sell yourself out.

let’s keep that our little secret!

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I'm an graphic designer who loves biking no matter if it's road, cross or mountain biking. I love it all. I live in Birmingham, Alabama and design t-shirts, work for companies like the Wall Street Journal and teach as an associate professor at two of the local Universities.